Palliative care is a neglected health care priority worldwide, three nursing experts contend.

A range of factors contribute to this neglect, including misconceptions about the nature of palliative care, a lack of clinical education opportunities and research and health equity issues, according to Richard Harding, interim executive dean; Oladayo Afolabi, research associate; and Anna Peeler, research associate, with the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery, and Palliative Care, King’s College London.

The three authors recently published their remarks in the British Medical Journal.

“Millions of people around the world live and die with virtually no access to pain and symptom relief. We have failed to tackle this preventable suffering in people with life limiting illness, and the problem will continue to worsen as populations age and the burdens of non-communicable diseases and multimorbidity grow,” the authors wrote. “Palliative care is neglected as a global health priority, and health systems around the world must better prepare to meet the growing need.”

By 2060, more than 48 million people globally will die with serious health related suffering, up 87% from 2016, the authors indicated. More than 83% of those will occur in low- and middle-income countries in which access to health care is limited.

In the United States, demand for palliative care will be driven by the burgeoning senior population. More than 10,000 people become Medicare-eligible every day, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Moreover, 95% will have at least one chronic condition, and 80% will have multiple, the National Council on Aging reported.

Meanwhile, only about 14% of patients in need of palliative care receive it, globally, the BMJ article indicated.

Inequitable health care access and quality in general also contributes to the lack of palliative care, according to the authors.

“Reducing inequity is key, and research should focus on developing and adapting models of palliative care that are feasible, sustainably funded, and context specific so that no one is left behind,” they wrote. “Without urgent, coordinated action, the world’s most vulnerable people, those in pain, those who are dying and children with debilitating or incurable conditions will continue to suffer.”